travelcard restriction question

[fzs600]

Apologies if this has effectively been answered before, I did search for a while without turning up an answer. Or indeed if this is a daft newbie question.

I was sold a London zones 1-6 day travelcard (by the ticket office) for a return journey from Welwyn Garden City to Richmond (Surrey) on Sunday. The ticket says "any permitted" under route.

The ticket was not accepted by the barriers at Vauxhall (national rail) and Richmond, but the staff let me through when I showed them the ticket. This was not a 1-off failure at an individual barrier, as it didn't work at either Vauxhall or Richmond in either direction, but was fine elsewhere before and after.

Was I sold the wrong ticket? I'd like to know as I'll be making this journey again soon.

 

[Peter Mugridge]

Richmond is within the zones ( as is Vauxhall ) so you were fine; they are probably set to reject some out of zone starts on Travelcards for some kind of revenue checking purpose.

 

[Capybara]

That's not the only 'issue' with the Vauxhall barriers. One I have had is that they retain the return half of a 'London Terminals' ticket when they shouldn't.

 

[Fred26]

Travelcards give so much travel, it's easier to say what is restricted; Heathrow Express and Connect, London Tour Buses and River Buses/River Tour Buses... unless that's changed. Also, I'm sure the Travelcard used to give a discount on the River Buses.
Everything else is free in whichever zones you've got; Tube, DLR, Overground, London Buses. You get a lot for your money. Unfortunately, most people only want to travel to one or two places in central London. Not that there's anything wrong with that, of course.

 

[swt_passenger]

Apologies if this has effectively been answered before, I did search for a while without turning up an answer. Or indeed if this is a daft newbie question.

I was sold a London zones 1-6 day travelcard (by the ticket office) for a return journey from Welwyn Garden City to Richmond (Surrey) on Sunday. The ticket says "any permitted" under route.

The ticket was not accepted by the barriers at Vauxhall (national rail) and Richmond, but the staff let me through when I showed them the ticket. This was not a 1-off failure at an individual barrier, as it didn't work at either Vauxhall or Richmond in either direction, but was fine elsewhere before and after.

Was I sold the wrong ticket? I'd like to know as I'll be making this journey again soon.

It's quite common for tickets to not work some random barriers - probably something to do with the magnetic coding on the ticket, either writing or reading.

 

[Peter Mugridge]

I'm sure the Travelcard used to give a discount on the River Buses.

It still does - we went to the Titanic exhibition at the dome three weeks ago and a poster we walked past just outside the dome on our way back advertised a reduction, which I think was 34% off, on the river boat from the nearby Greenwich pier.

However, in view of the temperature we decided to return by tube and leave the river sightseeing until the summer!

 

[bnm]

I'm sure the Travelcard used to give a discount on the River Buses.

Indeed. 1/3 off single fares on production of a Travelcard, either paper, or loaded onto an Oyster Card. A 10% discount is offered on Thames Clipper services on production of an Oyster Card with Pay-As-You-Go credit loaded on it.

http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tickets/14413.aspx#River fares

 

[AlterEgo]

Do you have 16-25 Railcard? I do, and I find that maybe 1 in every 4 barriers tells me to "Seek Assistance" when I have a ticket with the railcard. Think it's a revenue-checking exercise?

 

[fzs600]

Sadly I dont qualify for a 16-25 railcard by some margin!

It seems I had a valid ticket, but it wasn't accepted by the barriers at either Vauxhall (national rail) or Richmond, twice at each.

I'm doing the same trip after Christmas so I'll see what happens.

 

[Daniel]

If you can find out what the error number is I'll tell you whats wrong

 

[LexyBoy]

It was probably just issued with a corrupted magnetic strip, which happens from time to time. There was one ticket machine (at Oxford I think) which I used several times, and always gave me tickets which didn't work the barriers.

 

[fzs600]

I did the same journey again over Christmas, this time in the evening, same result. The barriers at Vauxhall national rail and Richmond stations rejected my ticket, but the ticket was fine before and after elsewhere.

I was sold a Zones 1-6 travelcard by the ticket office, as before.

 

[Daniel]

If you can find out what the error number is I'll tell you whats wrong

As above!

 

[fzs600]

If you can find out what the error number is I'll tell you whats wrong

Sorry Daniel,
How do I find out the error number? I didn't notice - does it appear on the barrier display?

 

[Daniel]

Sorry Daniel,
How do I find out the error number? I didn't notice - does it appear on the barrier display?

Hiya,

When you put your ticket through the gate, (provided it doesn't work), the display should show "Seek Assistance" as well as a two digit error code

 

[jon0844]

@fzs600, You said Sunday, which means you should have been sold a Super off-peak Travelcard by FCC at WGC (it's now the only ticket you will be offered from a TVM at weekends, which should stop anyone accidentally buying a normal one if not going to the ticket office), and I think this will be the reason. My wife gets the same ticket when we go into London at weekends (or recently, on the bank holiday Monday) and she always has problems with gatelines. Mind you, she gets one with a Gold Card discount (as she's with me) so it might be that which stops it being accepted (they wish to see if she's with a valid Gold Card ticket holder).

I am therefore of the opinion that this is why you had the problem, rather than a specific block on the ticket. Of course, if you can see the code the next time it happens then we'll know for sure (and the same goes for me, as I'll try and check the next time she gets her ticket rejected at King's Cross!).

 

[Daniel]

Mind you, she gets one with a Gold Card discount (as she's with me) so it might be that which stops it being accepted (they wish to see if she's with a valid Gold Card ticket holder).

<snip>

if you can see the code the next time it happens then we'll know for sure (and the same goes for me, as I'll try and check the next time she gets her ticket rejected at King's Cross!).

There is a specific rejection code if a ticket is being monitored, (when "documents are required", for example)!

 

[CBG2KGX]

I've had travelcards fail to open the barriers at Vauxhall (National Rail) and Richmond many times so today I thought I'd note the error code - it was 105. This is with a Cambridge to Zones 1-6 super off-peak day travelcard with Network Railcard discount.

Same thing on the exit barrier leaving Vauxhall later in the day.

 

[Mojo]

I've had travelcards fail to open the barriers at Vauxhall (National Rail) and Richmond many times so today I thought I'd note the error code - it was 105. This is with a Cambridge to Zones 1-6 super off-peak day travelcard with Network Railcard discount.

Same thing on the exit barrier leaving Vauxhall later in the day.

Error codes on National Rail are different to those on LU gates, so no idea what they mean.

 

[Daniel]

Error codes on National Rail are different to those on LU gates, so no idea what they mean.

(We can call 1610 and find out, if we ask nicely ^.^ - managed to get "season ticket not valid at TOC station" with an FC ALR before!).

I'll call when I'm next working, (monday morning), and find out for you, (as long as I remember)!

 

[Peter Mugridge]

I had a Travelcard fail to work the barriers at both Dalston Junction and DFalston Kingsland, both in and out, yesterday ( Friday ), although it worked everywhere else.

Presumably they are keeping an eye on Travelcards at those locations at the moment?

 

[Daniel]

It's possible they're rejecting magnetic tickets to ensure singles are not retained, (as I believe Dalston is treated as an "out of station interchange")?

 

[Peter Mugridge]

Don't think so unless it's a new change as previous Travelcards have worked at both.

 

[clagmonster]

I've had travelcards fail to open the barriers at Vauxhall (National Rail) and Richmond many times so today I thought I'd note the error code - it was 105. This is with a Cambridge to Zones 1-6 super off-peak day travelcard with Network Railcard discount.

Same thing on the exit barrier leaving Vauxhall later in the day.

What was the routeing of the Travelcard? I've had Southern Only outboundary Travelcards rejected at Vauxhall and other SWT stations before, despite them being valid on all operators within zones 1-6.

 

[CBG2KGX]

What was the routeing of the Travelcard? I've had Southern Only outboundary Travelcards rejected at Vauxhall and other SWT stations before, despite them being valid on all operators within zones 1-6.

Any Permitted, no operator restrictions.

My guess is that SWT haven't programmed their gates to accept these super off-peak travelcards yet - I think they are still relatively new (at least from Cambridge).

 

[class377man]

I had a Super Off-peak Travelcard fail at the NR barriers at both Victoria and Liverpool Street last week, but it worked fine on the tube at both stations, and everywhere else I used it on the tube as well.